During this visit, you should work with one or more groups of students if you haven't already, and observe your teacher doing the same. For this journal entry, describe your teacher's teaching style. What type of relationships with students does he or she nurture in his or her classes? How do students perceive that power is distributed in the classes? Does this vary within or across the different classes the teacher has? Cite examples from your observations to support your inferences. Remember to reflect on what style of teaching you will gravitate toward and the how you want to be perceived by your students.
This observation is based on my visits to the middle school science class I have been assigned to. The teacher’s style is friendly, and he seems eminently patient with his students. The teacher has a longstanding positive reputation in the school and capitalizes on that history with his students, who are in the second year of the cluster’s loop – that is, he has had these students for two years and knows them well. The students clearly trust and respect the teacher, and want to please him. His power is tangible but passive. He does not need to exert authority very often. However, his last class of the day has the highest percentage of students with IEP’s, and they recognize that they are not performing up to standards. This creates a bit more work for the teacher as he has to spend more time guiding and reassuring these students. I would want to emulate some aspects of this teacher’s style, though I think I will have to actively strive to be authoritative, and not authoritarian, in the classroom.
Observe a laboratory activity or base your answer on past visits. How does your CT conduct a typical laboratory activity? How does he or she open the activity and organize student groups? How do students learn what they're expected to do during the period? Reflect on your reading about inquiry and your experience with the NECAP inquiry task. How did the laboratory activity you observe prepare students for the type of activities that might show up on the NECAP in the future? What inquiry elements would you strengthen? What science practices do you want to stress when you're teaching?
The observed lab activity seemed to follow a standard sequence in the classroom, one that the students were clearly familiar with. Students sit in small group settings, three or four to a group of desks. The teacher introduces the lab with a guided reading, which the students take home and review. The students are asked to develop answers to a series of questions and compare them in class the next session. The teacher then goes over the answers with the class. When the lab is beginning, the teacher helps focus the students on the questions to be answered, as well as the additional learning opportunities. Thus, he might help them identify which variables they might want to manipulate (if there is more than one) and what type of variables they will be observing. Once the groups have determined which variable they will be testing, he allows them to discuss how they would use the materials provided to best test that variable. If they need guidance or correction, he steers them towards the right setup without directing it. I think this is a good preparation for NECAP inquiry tasks, forcing students to think for themselves and develop solutions. My focus in such activities would be on the critical thinking aspects – developing methods for testing hypotheses and analyzing data to arrive at conclusions.
This observation is based on my visits to the middle school science class I have been assigned to. The teacher’s style is friendly, and he seems eminently patient with his students. The teacher has a longstanding positive reputation in the school and capitalizes on that history with his students, who are in the second year of the cluster’s loop – that is, he has had these students for two years and knows them well. The students clearly trust and respect the teacher, and want to please him. His power is tangible but passive. He does not need to exert authority very often. However, his last class of the day has the highest percentage of students with IEP’s, and they recognize that they are not performing up to standards. This creates a bit more work for the teacher as he has to spend more time guiding and reassuring these students. I would want to emulate some aspects of this teacher’s style, though I think I will have to actively strive to be authoritative, and not authoritarian, in the classroom.
Observe a laboratory activity or base your answer on past visits. How does your CT conduct a typical laboratory activity? How does he or she open the activity and organize student groups? How do students learn what they're expected to do during the period? Reflect on your reading about inquiry and your experience with the NECAP inquiry task. How did the laboratory activity you observe prepare students for the type of activities that might show up on the NECAP in the future? What inquiry elements would you strengthen? What science practices do you want to stress when you're teaching?
The observed lab activity seemed to follow a standard sequence in the classroom, one that the students were clearly familiar with. Students sit in small group settings, three or four to a group of desks. The teacher introduces the lab with a guided reading, which the students take home and review. The students are asked to develop answers to a series of questions and compare them in class the next session. The teacher then goes over the answers with the class. When the lab is beginning, the teacher helps focus the students on the questions to be answered, as well as the additional learning opportunities. Thus, he might help them identify which variables they might want to manipulate (if there is more than one) and what type of variables they will be observing. Once the groups have determined which variable they will be testing, he allows them to discuss how they would use the materials provided to best test that variable. If they need guidance or correction, he steers them towards the right setup without directing it. I think this is a good preparation for NECAP inquiry tasks, forcing students to think for themselves and develop solutions. My focus in such activities would be on the critical thinking aspects – developing methods for testing hypotheses and analyzing data to arrive at conclusions.